Franklin 3, Oliver Ames 2: Heartstopping victory

Leading by three goals with two minutes to play in the Division 1 South title game Sunday night at Braintree High, it seemed as if the Franklin girls soccer team was cruising to a date against North champion Beverly in the state semifinals on Wednesday night. Oliver Ames then stunned the Panthers, scoring two goals less than a minute apart as time wound down, forcing Franklin to hang on for dear life.

Leading by three goals with two minutes to play in the Division 1 South title game Sunday night at Braintree High, it seemed as if the Franklin girls soccer team was cruising to a date against North champion Beverly in the state semifinals on Wednesday night.

Oliver Ames then stunned the Panthers, scoring two goals less than a minute apart as time wound down, forcing Franklin to hang on for dear life.

Luckily for the Panthers, they did, winning 3-2 and clinching their second sectional title in three seasons. They will now travel to Lynn's Manning Field for a 5:30 p.m. date in the state's final four.

The Panthers are now 20-0-1, and their pursuit of an unbeaten season is still intact. Oliver Ames, the 2011 Div. 1 South champs, ends its season at 17-4-1.

"We never like to make things easy on ourselves," said a relieved Franklin coach Tom Geysen. "We came out with some formations that they didn't recognize and were able to get up early. We did a good job of staying hungry to close out the first half. We played okay in the second half for the most part and then made a few mistakes late that almost cost us. But at this point, a win is a win and now we'll look ahead to a very good Beverly team."

With fans still filing in and the clock reading less than four minutes gone in the first half, Kristi Kirshe, looking for her 100th career goal, fired a long ball that just missed going in. But luckily for her, Bailey Knous was there to put home the rebound and quickly put Franklin up 1-0.

Just two minutes later, it was Knous' turn to assist a goal, sending a feed over to Taylor Cogliano who calmly buried it into the corner of the net for a 2-0 lead.

"That goal was all because of Bailey being an unselfish teammate," said Cogliano. "She had so much space and easily could have taken it herself, but she gave me an unbelievable pass and I just had to make sure I finished it. I have to give all the credit to her. It was an amazing play she made."

Seven minutes after Cogliano's goal, Knous fired a shot that nearly went in, but Alexis Stowell was there to make sure it did, slamming home the rebound and sending the Franklin crowd into a frenzy by putting the Panthers up 3-0.

"The ball was just sitting there for me so I had to put it in," said Stowell with a chuckle. "It was a nice shot by Bailey, but luckily I was just in the right place at the right time and was able to get that goal for us. It felt amazing."

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The second half was uneventful for the first 38 minutes, until a sudden goal from Oliver Ames' Corrine Herlihy found its way past Franklin goalie Dani Lonati with 2:25 on the scoreboard.

Geysen called a timeout to calm his players down, but it didn't work.

Immediately following the break, Kendall Andrew launched a free kick nearly 30 yards from just in front of Franklin's bench that sailed over the head of Lonati and cut Franklin's lead to 3-2 with less than a minute to play.

The Panthers then punted the ball down field twice, killing the clock and setting off an exhilarating celebration as they stormed the field.

"I was so nervous," said Cogliano. "I just wanted the clock to run so badly and it seemed like we were out there forever those last few seconds."

"I've never been so nervous in my life," echoed Stowell. "That was just crazy. I'm just so happy we were able to hold on."

As Geysen has told his team all year, they survived, and now it is simply on to the next one.

"A win is a win," he said. "If we didn't get this one, we weren't going to have another game to prepare for. Now we do. I expect Beverly to be every bit as difficult as Oliver Ames was. They beat a good Central Catholic team and now we just have to go play and see what happens."